Doing Things the Same Way — Morning Devotions

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Transcript

Did you hear about the mother who loved cooking for her family? But her family noticed something a bit odd. Before she cooked the roast beef, she’d cut off the end of the roast. Her daughter watched her do this, and one day she said, Mom, why do you do that? Well, it’s how you’re supposed to cook a roast — I suppose, it’s the way my mother did it.

Well, Mum thought a lot about that conversation over the next few days, and she decided to phone her mother. Why did you always cut the end off the roast before cooking it? she inquired. Well, her mother said, That’s the way you’re supposed to do it. Yeah, I know, but why? Well, the grandmother was a bit puzzled. It’s the way that my mother did it when I was growing up.

So the first mother, she was the grandmother of the clan. She said, Grandma, why do you cut off the end of the roast before you cook it? And she said, Grandma said, Oh, I don’t anymore, but when your mother was growing up, we had a very small oven, and there wasn’t enough room for all the pans in the oven. I had to use a small pan, and it wouldn’t hold all the meat. So naturally, all I could do was I cut off the end.

Now, maybe that’s a silly story, but there’s an interesting truth here.

I wonder if you could think about it, we end up doing things the same way without knowing why.

Why? Because it’s always been done that way.

I think what we need sometimes in life is to look at things in a new way, to stop and think, why do I do this and what am I doing? Do I need to have a new outlook on life?

You’ve probably heard the old saying, two men looked out at the same prison bars. One sees mud and the other sees stars. And it’s true that when God is the centre of our life, each day can be new, each day can be an adventure.

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And the Bible says a lot about this Ephesians 3:20 says that his power, the work of God, is at work in us, and that can do far more than we dare ask or imagine.

Jesus Christ, His presence in our lives. That’s what Paul was saying in Ephesians 3:20. The power that’s at work in us can do more than we can ask or imagine. So do you ever start the day bogged down with yesterday’s fears or frustrations or failures? Do you ever get discouraged about things that you haven’t finished, or you’ve put off things? Have you ever begun a new day, well, thinking, well, one more day – and all I’ve got is unfinished tasks. Why do I bother trying to do anything new and nothing works?

Well, again, I found some really inspiring words from Lamentations chapter 3, verse 22 to 24, again from the Old Testament. The Lord’s kindness, it says, never fails. The Lord can always be trusted to show mercy each morning. Deep in my heart, I say, the Lord is all I need. I can depend on Him.

They’re great words, and when we take those words and perhaps speak them each day, life breaks out of its dreariness and opens us up to new possibilities. We need His power and His strength to do it, and I’m sure that developing a positive attitude towards life can help because every day is a gift from God. There’s always something new, isn’t there? How tragic it is to read of people who find life absolutely futile.

A few years ago, a lady committed suicide and left behind the note. And sadly this is what the note said. I decided that unless life was worth living, I would just quit living. Sad.

So how do you feel about your life today? Is it worthwhile?

What would it take for you to feel that life is in fact worthwhile? What would have to happen to make you feel positive about your life – if you won the lottery? Would that do it? If your marriage was all patched up, if your kids made you feel proud, if you got a promotion at work? Are those the sort of things that would make you feel better? Frank Perretti, an author from America, says it’s no wonder that our young people today have poor self-images when they go to school.

And they read books that tell them that they’re the products of blind chance, that they’re just accidents of nature, unplanned, unloved, unwanted. He says comfort can be a dangerous thing. You stick around home all the time where it’s safe. Before you know it, you get set in your ways and you quit learning. You don’t change and you don’t grow any more.

So just because things have been done the way they’ve always been done, there’s a need to look at things in a new way, and may God help us today.

Let’s Pray

Lord, we need to change sometimes. Give us the opportunity and the courage to do that today. I pray for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

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